Pipeline Task Force In The Business Of Repairing Leaks

By Ruthe Ashley, Chair, Pipeline Task Force, State Bar of California

Ruthe Ashley and State Bar of California President Jim Heiting

The United States Supreme Court stated in Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 306, 33233 (2003) that “access to legal education (and thus the legal profession) must be inclusive of talented and qualified individuals of every race and ethnicity, so that all members of our heterogeneous society may participate in the educational institutions that provide the training and education necessary to succeed in America.”

In California, fifty-three percent (53%) of the population constitute people of color. In contrast, only seventeen (17%) of our over 200,000 attorneys are attorneys of color. The pipeline into the legal profession is slowing to a mere trickle and leaks are occurring at all levels. From preschool through law school, and then through retention and advancement into legal practice, underrepresented attorneys are being lost. This leakage has created a crisis across the nation in a legal profession that understands the importance of diversity, and the American Bar Association has recognized this problem and is moving to find solutions.

California, as one of the most diverse states in the nation, has also recognized the crisis and Past President, John Van De Kamp, talked about the importance of the opening the pipeline. President Jim Heiting, created the Pipeline Task Force in October 2005, and appointed Ruthe Ashley, a member of the Board of Governors, as its chair.

The Task Force's goal is to review the universe of existing diversity programs already in place across the nation. Following the review of existing programs, Task Force members will make recommendations for inclusion in the Pipeline Model Practices based on several factors including continuity, sustainability, impact, and replicability. The goal is to create an online database of model practices that can be easily accessed and easily replicated by any bar association, law firm, corporation, law school or the courts. Partnerships and collaborations up and down the pipeline will be a key component to the success of these model pipeline diversity programs.

The Task Force is divided into four working groups: The education pipeline (PreSchool to grade 20); bar associations and law firms; courts and government sector; and corporate counsel. Members include bar presidents and executive directors, law firm partners, professors, deans, teachers, judges, corporate counsel, chief counsels, and public sector attorneys. The unique aspect of this Task Force is that it addresses the entire pipeline from preschool to retention and advancement in practice. This is the first time the entire pipeline is working together in a collaborative partnership.

The Task Force has completed the first step of reviewing existing programs. The Spring Summit (June 23) in San Jose gave the Task Force feedback from attendees of the summit. At this summit, the Courts committee hosted a firstever Judicial Summit for California judges to address the need of diversity on the bench. Both John Davies, Governor Schwarzenegger's Appointments Secretary, and Burt Pines, former Governor Davis' Appointments Secretary, were present. That conference led to a commitment from the Governor's office to consider diversity in future appointments and supported Chief Justice George in his commitment to diversity on the bench.

The Task Force is steadily moving towards the unveiling of the first phase of the project at the Annual Meeting in October. The last Task Force meeting in September will be focused on determining next steps and exploring avenues to institutionalize the work of the Task Force. Incoming State Bar President, Shelly Sloan, has made the Pipeline one of his major initiatives.

California, under President Heiting's leadership, is leading the way in acting on the issues and problems that face our legal profession. As the Grutter court wrote, “access… must be inclusive” and leadership of America must look like its population.